1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to creating an autostereoscopic image or animation flip with a lenticular screen, and more particularly to an improved lenticular screen and/or printed substrate image having removable alignment tabs to permit easier alignment of the lenticular screen and the printed substrate prior to their attachment.
2. Description of Related Art
An autostereoscopic image, or an animation flip, typically consists of a lenticular screen and a printed substrate image. The lenticular screen comprises rows of lenticules, which are lenses that permit different portions of the printed substrate image to be visible from different viewing angles through the lenticular screen. For example, rows of two or more images may be interlaced and printed to form the printed substrate image, such that when the printed substrate image is viewed through the lenticular screen, different images may be seen from different viewing angles, creating an “animation flip.” Various other effects can be achieved based on the geometry of the lenticules and/or lenticular screen, as well as on the configuration and/or layout of the printed substrate image. For example, in addition to creating an “animation flip” effect, different lenticular screens and printed substrate images may be employed to create three-dimensional and/or “fly's eye” effects.
Once a lenticular screen has been selected and a printed substrate image obtained, they must be attached to one another to create the autostereoscopic image. At this stage, proper alignment of the lenticular screen with the printed substrate image is important. For instance, with respect to three-dimensional or “flip animation” images, the rows of lenticules on the lenticular screen must be lined up parallel with the printed image rows on the printed image substrate. If the lenticular screen is slightly askew with respect to the printed substrate image, a phenomenon known as “banding” will be present, in which a band of misaligned rows appears across the face of the autostereoscopic image. The larger the angle of skew between the lenticular screen and the printed substrate image, the more banding will be noticeable. In addition, a smaller lenticule size, a greater lenticule frequency, or a greater number of interlaced images on the printed substrate image increases the difficulty of aligning the lenticular screen, particularly with the naked eye.
Current methods for aligning the lenticular screen include sliding the lenticular screen over the printed substrate image prior to attachment, until the naked eye perceives an alignment between the two and the image appears correctly through the lenticular screen. In such cases, the lenticular screen is held in place by hand until it can be affixed to the printed substrate image. The lenticular screen is typically affixed to the printed substrate image with an optical cement. However, this process often leads to slippage or tilting of the lenticular screen as the optical cement is applied and/or the lenticular screen is secured to the printed substrate image. Holding the lenticular screen in place by hand while optical cement is applied may also increase the occurrence of air bubbles between the lenticular screen and the printed substrate image, as both hands are not always available to control the placement of the lenticular screen and/or the smoothing out of bubbles. In addition, care must be taken to not overly bend the lenticular screen, so as to damage it.
Various other methods exist for aligning the lenticular screen with a printed substrate image. For example, the lenticular screen and the printed substrate image may be cut precisely along a straight line such that they may be properly aligned by lining up the straight edges of the lenticular screen and the printed substrate image. However, this method may require special tools, and although effective for large-scale production of autostereoscopic images, is not as accessible to a home user or creator of a single autostereoscopic image. In other embodiments, an image may be printed, in reverse, directly onto the flat surface of a lenticular screen. However, this method may require a special printer; further, this method requires increased precision in the printing process that leads to a higher risk of “banding.”
Thus, for these and other reasons, there exists a need in the art for methods and a relatively self-contained apparatus for more easily aligning and affixing a lenticular screen to a printed substrate image, so as to facilitate the alignment and to set and preserve the alignment prior to attachment of the lenticular screen to the printed substrate image.